THEATRELAND was facing a potentially catastrophic crisis of confidence last night after the ceiling collapse at London’s Apollo Theatre.

The industry fears the paying public will stay away while doubts remain that the West End’s Victorian and Edwardian theatres are fit for purpose. Experts were yesterday continuing to check all theatres to ensure they are safe.

Nine people were seriously hurt with neck, head and back injuries caused by falling debris and 70 others suffered minor injuries after slabs of masonry the size of park benches fell from the Apollo’s ceiling on Thursday night.

There were scenes of chaos and confusion as more than 700 theatre-goers struggled through blinding dust to escape the building as debris rained down.

Investigators are trying to establish whether intense rain and hail storms plus a number of lightning flashes in the London area earlier in the evening played any part in the incident.

There was defiance last night after an emergency meeting of all London theatre owners confirmed safety inspections and certificates were up to date and theatres would remain open for business.

A woman hurt in the ceiling collapse [AP]

Although the Apollo has been declared structurally sound, it is going to be very hard over the next few months for theatres to convince the public the buildings are safe

Mhora Samuel

Despite this, owners are extremely nervous. Underneath the glamour of the West End lies the harsh economic reality of keeping commercial theatres solvent in tough economic times. A major challenge is maintaining the condition of ageing buildings on a limited budget.

Mhora Samuel, director of the Theatres Trust, which advises theatres on the care and maintenance of buildings, said: “Although the Apollo has been declared structurally sound, it is going to be very hard over the next few months for theatres to convince the public the buildings are safe.”

A damning report a decade ago by the Trust said £250million needed to be spent to bring the West End’s theatres up to modern standards.

Impresarios like Lord Lloyd Webber and Sir Cameron Mackintosh have since ploughed tens of millions into restoration and improvement work.

In addition, refurbishments of the London Coliseum, costing more than £40million, and the Royal Court in Sloane Square, at £26million, have been mainly funded with public money.

But for those theatre owners without the resources of multi-millionaires or state funding, renovation and repair are a constant headache.

Nica Burns and Max Weitzenhoffer, bought the Apollo, along with five others, in 2005 and created Nimax Theatres.

Last year Ms Burns described the difficulties and cost of keeping up with renovations of the Grade II listed 112-year-old Apollo, despite the imposition of a £1 “restoration levy” on every ticket sold to help cover the cost of maintenance.

Emergency services work at the scene of the roof collaspe [GETTY]

The levy puts around £500,000 a year in the fund to finance maintenance and renovation at the Apollo. “We are very good at making our money go a long way. Not a penny is wasted,” she said.

One of their biggest problems eight years ago was that of water ingress from above and below. As well as leaking roofs, tributaries of the River Fleet flow under the cellars and flood.

“Half the theatres have tributaries of the River Fleet running through their basements and we have to pump them 24 hours a day,” she said.

In 2011, the ancient drainage system under the Garrick Theatre – owned by Nimax – was completely overhauled. On the roof, dilapidated metal gutters, dislodged stone copings and rusting steel beams all had to be renewed.

Mr Samuel said: “We want to impress on theatre owners that it is important to be vigilant about potential problems.”

He praised Nimax for its “proactive” approach to maintenance issues at its stable of theatres.

“I have every confidence that Nica Burns and Nimax have been acting in all the right ways,” he said.